Are you staying in hotels/motels or people's homes or what? Because if it's a motel situation maybe you could just request a cot. I don't know if they are suitable for adults, though.

lol @ buttless chaps Yeah, I would wear khakis or something like that. Actual job you can probably wear jeans, but interview I'd dress a little nicer.

oh my!!

Right now I think I get more than 8.5 but that's because in order to get dd to sleep I have to go to bed with her. I tend to require more sleep than most people I think. I'm trying to figure out if my medication is making me more sleepy or not because sometimes despite a full night's rest I feel like I need a nap the next day. Dh says I'm just always like that lol. During pregnancy that was my biggest issue, staying awake.

I can see why it might be considered tacky, but I don't know if that would always stop me from using cash lol. To me, it's easier to say, "oh no, I couldn't take your money" than to reject a gift card they bought with me in mind. Like, in this case, if I was handed a Best Buy gift card and told to spend it on a new harddrive, it's a little hard to say no because what are they gonna do? They can't return the gift card and it was bought with me in mind. They could spend their own gift card, but I feel like if they went out of their way they really want me to have it. Putting cash/gc in an envelope with a card would also convey "I really want you to take this" as well. You can also make the amount more discreet with a gift card. With cash they know how much they are accepting sooner, maybe. With the gift card they might read the balance later (I always write the amount in sharpie on the card but not everyone does). If I was unsure about their specific needs/wants for the harddrive I might ask my daughter if she knows where they shop -- New Egg, Tiger Direct, Amazon, Best Buy, etc. and get a gift with gift receipt or get a gift card with a note that it was intended for a harddrive. You probably can't really go wrong but some people are very peculiar about their electronics. One time dh had a certain kind of harddrive and was ticked when a computer repair place didn't return it. He specified the kind and I don't know if they ever found it or not. It was called a Barracuda. edited for clarity: I think they tried to return someone else's harddrive of another brand to him.

Are you using every feature? Like the speaking lessons with microphone? Lots of people opt out of those. You can disable or enable it.

Yes, that makes sense. I just didn't want to set up high expectations down the line. Like will he expect something every time he does anything techy for me? More computer work or holidays. Like, for Christmas we spend $50 per couple or roughly $25/person. I would worry my Christmas gift would be underwhelming after the harddrive they got lol. This would be my personal train of thought, I wouldn't expect others to necessarily feel this way. A gift card with or without a note, to me, would be sufficient as he wasn't expecting compensation. But the harddrive would be nice as well. :) I'm sure he would very much appreciate it.

I'm frugal so maybe this is just me, but I think a $60 harddrive seems like an expensive gift. I wouldn't want to set the bar that high :laugh: I do think giving him something as a token of your appreciation would be nice, though. Dh says he does that type of stuff for people all the time (as a favor) and it's like 15 min. worth of work with some wait time between.

Btw, I had to log into the PC to even find my shield. I originally logged into my phone app. I have it on my kindle fire as well but I haven't logged in there to check. Each experience is a little different.

I haven't touched my account in a long time. It lists me as level 12 and 11% fluent. I never finished my tree. Maybe try another element or another app. I don't know what causes your fluency to not move. My dad uses the program backwards sometimes! Like pretends he's a German speaker learning English to get a different experience than when he used the program as an English speaker learning German. Maybe try that and see if it is a more favorable experience?

Nevermind lol I see that they stopped for gas and the infant got out more than once. Makes more sense now. I would have figured they would still want or need a diaper change more than during the one stop, though (if I understood that correctly).

I agree. When I was growing up my older sisters mowed our yard for a while. They wore hats, ear protection, and I dunno what else. So it's not weird to me. My dad is a little extreme and dh laughs at him (he wears ear protection to vacuum inside). Dh is hard of hearing from a concert a long time ago (being too close to a speaker). I think why risk that? But I think he's just thinking it's weird because we see so many people mow without any of that stuff. The guys that do the campus grass wear face masks I think. Seems smart to me. I don't know if I still have the headsets... a long time ago I bought them from the gun dept. for an air show. I don't like little things in my ear so I prefer not to do the foam ones. All I can find in the house is the As Seen on TV headphones for watching tv lol.

Oh no! lol. Learning to use the weed whacker and bush trimmer is next on my list. I mowed today. Man, that was tiring. The handle bar felt too low for me and dh is a foot taller than me! I thought it might help if I did some mowing because it looks awful for someone his height to have to operate that thing. I actually got a bit of stuff in my eye and a blister on my thumb. I told him I might wear goggles (I actually wear glasses but they didn't help enough) and/or gloves next time. He thinks I sound ridiculous but I don't care. I just meant where we live. I see men mowing, most with riding mowers. Yeah. He also works with our neighbors so I didn't know if it would get him teased/emasculated at work somehow. He mowed the front yard yesterday and I mowed the back today. The mower was actually kinda hard for me to push but I think it was good exercise.

I'm joining you on the couch to watch Cake Wars.

Me personally, I feel like I can give gifts that look like more if I give items verses cash or gift cards. I usually buy items on sale. That way sometimes I can actually give them a few items without going over budget. There's a young girl that joins us for Christmas at my in-law's home. She's in her 20s. Last year I got her a perfume on sale (it was a stick with two in one). The year before that I got her a watch on sale (it had a sports team on the face that she likes but I thought the watch was still attractive and feminine or unisex). The perfume was under $15 and I think the watch was around that price as well. Not sure if these types of ideas help. I also follow bargain groups on facebook. Sometimes people will post about a sale at their local Walmart or such. Then when I'm in my store I find the same item and scan it to check the price. Clothing is probably the easiest item for me to find on sale, but as people get into their teens and older I hesitate to buy clothing.

Sounds like a lot of us have had female math teachers. Seems like that alone would help send the message women can go into those fields. But I guess there are always other messages people hear that can override things like that. My first male math teacher was in college. I wondered that as well. ---- Tonight I asked dh if it would embarrass him if I mowed the lawn. He said not at all. I said okay just asking because I always see men mowing the yards here. He was mowing tonight and I said maybe I could start mowing, too (we just got the lawn mower and I have never in my life used one).

He's just three. A child that didn't want to participate I'd just say isn't ready. But if you think a different format would interest him, have you tried ReadingBear.org?

I'm curious how many of us had female math teachers. I had a few and my dad has a Master's in math. Honestly I think I have dyscalculia which is more what holds me back from a math path than anything else.

I haven't done elimination with my kids, but I did it for myself when I was breastfeeding. Did you allow at least a few weeks to get the body clear of the things you were eliminating? As far as food dyes, they might be in things you don't suspect or didn't give any thought about. I've seen them in misc. products (food and non food) when I was reading the ingredients. I think like in my shampoo.

:grouphug: I have not been around enough 2-3 yr olds to determine what is normal or not, but I will tell you that when I go out in public I feel like my toddler is exceptionally difficult. I gave up at the library program this week. We spent at least a third of it in the car with ds inside the building because she was disrupting the whole program. Yesterday we took her to the ophthalmologist and she was so upset in the dilation room. A woman sitting by us had to move because it was making her infant want to cry. That sounds normal but all this to say I feel like I can't go anywhere sometimes. Dh was with me and she wasn't listening to either of us. The other day my sister was texting me so I was trying to text her back and dd got impatient and slung the roku remote at my forehead. It hurts. I'm surprised I don't have a huge bruise across my face. I was like a foot from her when she did it. I try to make a conscious effort to not use a physical reaction (spank or swat on hand) but it's hard and I am ashamed. I took her to Early Intervention. The process is slow because the first week was just an intake and the evaluation team won't see her til later this month. I told them I am concerned she has a speech delay and thus acts out so much, screams, growls. She's having trouble communicating so she gets aggressive. I don't know if any of this applies to your dc. I know she also acts out when she wants attention from me and I'm not giving it to her. Sometimes I expect her to be way too patient for her age. My only suggestion (for both of us because I need to follow my own advice) have more positive interactions. More one-on-one time. It rained the last couple of days so we haven't gone outside on our usual walk. Getting outside might be good. I have trouble with mine even outdoors. I take her to a football field and she literally runs to the track off the field from me sometimes. It's so exhausting and frustrating. I assume both my children are "spirited" aka strong willed and it will be a blessing later. Just not great now LOL I have to catch her/stop her from doing things lately like turning on the bath faucets, opening the fridge, dumping the cat food in the cat's water dish, opening, opening all the band-aids and sticking them on things... ugh.

I went to see it opening weekend with the boys and the showing we wanted was sold out. We were really disappointed and didn't want to see the next one which was 9:30 pm. Dh and ds went another day with the neighbor, but we no longer had someone to watch dd so I stayed behind. I guess I'll go myself one of these days. I really want to see it. Did you know that during some follow up shooting the actress was 5 months pregnant? They used CGI to cover it up. http://www.scarymommy.com/gal-godot-pregnant-during-wonder-woman-reshoots/?utm_medium=partner&utm_source=hip2save

I'm seeing it less. I thought it was cool that the cartoon I was watching with dd the other day has a female mechanic (Tayo the Little Bus). Even one of the latest Disney movies shows Moana as more hands on than some previous Disney leads.

My dh wears Big & Tall clothes. He will not wear just a t-shirt. His compromise is he wears an overshirt. In the summer they have a more casual dress code so he wears a tshirt and an unbuttoned short sleeve overshirt. This is how he dresses when he goes out of the house, too unless he's already dressed up for something in which case he wears long sleeve button up shirts (buttoned lol). He is self conscious in just a tshirt. My other suggestion is to wear a size larger if the t-shirt fabric feels clingy. Dh hates clingy. He also hates polos because he thinks they cling to his chest. I think polo sounds overdressed in your dh's work environment so yes, I would see if there is a way to replace a polo with something more casual looking. Do they need to have a print on them?? My dh doesn't like to wear shirts with prints anymore so he just wears plain ones. I used to buy him novelty shirts, though. Gaming shirts and such.

I might be a little lost here. It's your dad that you want to visit, right? But FIL is local? And neither are coming to your son's games? I can understand the frustration that just visiting isn't enough of a reason. I think some people are just like that. Especially if they drive a long distance (one time my in-laws came to visit us and then wanted to go to another town another hour away to hit up some tamale place and go to a museum with us. Wasn't my idea of fun but to each their own). Well, is there anything you can think of to make it more appealing? No, you shouldn't have to. But it sounds like it would help. A trip to (insert place your son and he would like. Is there an exhibit or particular store). Eating out at (insert place he doesn't get to go normally but enjoys). So maybe baseball and camping aren't really his thing. What about bowling or laser tag or a game of chess or checkers? Something at the theater? I don't know. If he has to be entertained then I wouldn't blame you if you didn't go out of your way. But if you think it's important it might not hurt to run some ideas by him. He might be clueless about what there is to do where you live.

Like 9 months? That was when it was too hard for either of us to travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas (my in-laws came over that December to see the baby and exchange gifts). But we live in the same state a few hours away from both sets of parents. I do think about if we moved how it would be really hard to see them. My parents cannot easily travel and for us it would be very difficult with the cost of 4 if we had to take a plane or even just if we had a very long drive. In your case, did she ask to come see you? Hint about it? How do the kids feel? Do they remember her? Do they want to try to have a relationship? Could they skype or facetime with her? Will you have regrets if you arrange something?